A battle between soccer parents and the NFL erupted during Super Bowl 50. A decade later, Santa Clara is trying to ensure that won't happen again.

"When Santa Clara hosted the Super Bowl in 2016, the Youth Soccer Park next to Levi's Stadium became the center of a fierce legal battle between soccer parents, the city and the league. At the time, the NFL intended to transform the soccer fields into a media village as part of a longtime agreement with Santa Clara that allowed them to utilize city-owned facilities around the stadium. But just days before the league was set to begin preparations for the Big Game, the Santa Clara Youth Soccer League took the matter to court, unsuccessfully seeking to block the takeover."

"The reason? The local soccer community feared that the heavy foot traffic, tents and other equipment brought in to transform the pitch into a media hub would destroy the fields and displace hundreds of youth soccer players who had nowhere else to play. Now, a decade later, the Youth Soccer Park is once again being handed over to the NFL to use as it sees fit, and the city is seeking to avoid another legal showdown. We approached this with eyes wide open and are really happy to report that the proposal does not create any damage to the Youth Soccer Park and in fact has a community benefit attached to it of over $1.2 million, City Manager Jovan Grogan said at Tuesday's Santa Clara City Council meeting. The council unanimously approved the terms of the agreement."

"The NFL first notified the city in July that it wanted to use parts of the Youth Soccer Park for Super Bowl operations, though Damon Sparacino, the city's parks and recreation director, said the league was initially hesitant, given what played out a decade ago. The Youth Soccer Park comprises three fields two natural grass and one artificial turf. In the agreement, NFL will have exclusive access to the parks and some of the surrounding areas from Jan. 5 to Feb. 22. The league plans to use the artificial turf field as the media hub. But this time, they plan on covering it with a more protective surface the NFL covered the field last time, but c"

In 2016 the Youth Soccer Park next to Levi's Stadium was the focus of a legal battle when the NFL planned to convert the fields into a media village under a longstanding agreement with Santa Clara. Local soccer participants feared field destruction and displacement of hundreds of youth players, and the Santa Clara Youth Soccer League sought to block the takeover in court but failed. A decade later the city approved a new agreement granting the NFL exclusive park access from Jan. 5 to Feb. 22, with the artificial turf field designated as the media hub and promises of protective covering and more than $1.2 million in community benefits.

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